Rosa DeLauro

Michael F. Jacobson will move from being the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest to chief scientist, beginning in September 2017. He has co-directed or directed the nonprofit nutrition and food safety watchdog group since its founding in 1971. Jacobson will remain on the group’s board of directors as it conducts… Continue Reading

Reactions have been varied to the news that Dole Food Co. knowingly produced and shipped salads from a contaminated facility, ranging from criticism of the FDA to an admission by Dole’s management that the company is being investigated by the Justice Department. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, is the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee responsible… Continue Reading

A congresswoman from Connecticut told the FDA “American families should not be dying from the food they eat” and asked the agency to step up its investigation of an ongoing seven-month Salmonella outbreak that has killed six people. “Since this outbreak (which began in July 2015) was first reported on Sept. 4, 2015, there have been… Continue Reading

For the estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people in the United States who are allergic to sesame, the recently introduced Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2015 comes as good news. Included in the act’s provisions, which primarily seek to give consumers easy-to-understand labels on food so they can make healthy choices, is Section 8, which would require… Continue Reading

Food safety was not a significant part of discussions Wednesday during the House Appropriations Committee markup of the agriculture funding bill. Nutrition policies, the Food for Peace program and FDA pre-market review of e-cigarettes were some of the major topics of debate. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) praised the inclusion of language in the Manager’s Amendment… Continue Reading

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced it is lifting a ban on beef imports from Northern Argentina and 14 of Brazil’s 27 states. But the changes in regulation have some concerned about the risk of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The agency concluded that Argentina and Brazil are… Continue Reading

The House of Representatives has voted to repeal country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for beef, pork, and chicken. Texas Republican Rep. Michael Conaway’s Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015 passed late Wednesday night by a 300-131 vote. Conaway introduced the bill on May 18 — the same day the World Trade Organization rejected a U.S. appeal of its… Continue Reading

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced a bill in Congress on Thursday which would limit the amount of inorganic arsenic permitted in rice and rice-based foods. The R.I.C.E (Reducing food-based Inorganic Compounds Exposure) Act would require the Food and Drug Administration to set a maximum permissible level of inorganic arsenic in rice and food containing rice. “Inorganic arsenic… Continue Reading

While appearing before the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said USDA will work to introduce labels for mechanically tenderized beef within the next two years. New labeling laws are implemented in two-year increments so that new label rules made in 2013 or 2014 will be implemented on Jan. 1, 2016. When the… Continue Reading